Driven by an uptick in the 2-17 age group, TV viewing saw its first monthly increase since January 2023 with overall TV usage increasing 2.2% compared with May 2023 according to the June 2023 Nielsen Gauge report.
The analyst’s monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs via television found overall time spent streaming via a television accounted for 37.7% of all viewing, a month-on-month increase of 5.8%. This was the largest share of TV usage to date in The Gauge, the largest share to be reported in The Gauge since July 2021 when cable accounted for the same amount. The largest share ever reported in The Gauge was cable's share of 40.1% in June 2021.
By comparison, cable content viewing made up 30.6% of TV usage and broadcast content viewing made up 20.8%, the lowest ever reported in The Gauge. Cable usage was up slightly (+0.4%), but the category lost 0.6 share points due to increases in the streaming and other categories of the research.
Broadcast usage fell 6.6% and the category lost 2.0 share pts. Linear TV viewing combing broadcast and cable combined accounted for 63.6% of viewing in June 2021; it was 51.4% in June 2023. On a year-over-year basis, broadcast viewing was down 5.6% (-1.6 pts.), and cable viewing was down 11.6% (-4.6 points).
However, the report found that NBA-related programming was positive for both cable and broadcast formats, as the Conference Finals represented the month’s top programmes on cable, and the NBA Finals helped drive a 31.7% increase in sports viewing on broadcast.
Just over half (53%) of streaming’s increase was from streaming usage in the 2-17 age group. TV usage among the 2-11 and 12-17 age groups was up 16.3% and 24.1% respectively. Streaming and video game console usage accounted for 90% of the usage increases across these age groups.
Looking at individual platforms, Paramount+ captured 1.0% of overall TV viewing in June to become the eleventh streaming service to be independently reported in the study. Viewing to Paramount+ was boosted by its original series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which generated nearly 1 billion viewing minutes. YouTube and
Netflix each achieved their largest shares to date, representing 8.2% and 8.8% of TV, respectively, while action-drama series S.W.A.T. - which streams on Hulu, Netflix and Paramount+ - was the most-watched streaming program in June, with nearly 5 billion minutes viewed across the three platforms.
Tubi TV usage increased 12.1% and brought its share to 1.4% of TV to remain the leading FAST service in The Gauge and Disney+ benefited from the growth in younger audiences, as usage jumped 11.9% to account for 2.0% of TV. With a 16.5% monthly increase in usage, the recently rebranded Max captured 1.4% of TV, a rise of 0.2 points.